LEAP on the Hill: Stories from the week of May 16, 2008

Am I that easy to read? After every conference I attend, I send a short note to each person I talked to & remind them of LEAP. From Dr. George (Jorge) a doctor employed by a federal agency (I wrote to him in Spanish) he wrote:‘estoy alegre que estas vivo y coleando.’ Coleando? I had no clue. Translation = I am glad you are still alive and nagging = must be Spanish for ‘Troublemaker.’ LOL Moment to remember: On Saturday I joined about 400 law enforcement members on a motorcycle run to the Police Officer’s Memorial in DC. My original intention was to politic but as soon as I saw the two walls with the names of 18,000 fallen officers, I never even started. The ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms…a federal agency) had made nice 6 X 9 inch (15cm x 25cm) cards of their fallen agents. I was struck by how many had died a LODD (Line of Duty Death) between 1919 and 1933. After 10 minutes I realized I knew one name on the wall. I moved over to section 33W row 22: Gary Priess. We had worked in adjoining townships and had a friendly rivalry of who made the most traffic stops each year. While on a traffic stop in 2000, he was struck by a tractor-trailer. He was 44. I squatted there for many minutes, touching his name, remembering the good times. A hand touched my shoulder and squeezed. Such was the day. Privacy Rights Anyone? On Wednesday I attended all day and was the last speaker at the GOAL conference (Gay, Lesbian, Trans-gender law enforcement professionals). I listened for two hours as these officers told their difficult story of coming out in the open as a gay man, etc. I should not have been surprised by how similar it is for officers to ‘come out’ against the Drug War/Drug Prohibition. Both are potential problems for the officer. LEAP allows members to ‘stay in the closet’ with our ‘stealth’ membership. The response was about the same as a Rotary/Kiwanis club…most agreed & some could not wrap their minds around allowing an adult to buy a few grams of cocaine at the same place they buy their whiskey.